Rotary discharge element for hop



July 15, 1952 E E. BRYAN 2,603,388 ROTARY DISCHARGE ELEMENT FOR HOPPERS, HAVING HELICAL POCKETS AND AN AXIALLY SLIDABLE SHIELD FOR ADJUSTABLY OCCLUDING SAID POCKETS Filed July 17, 1947 nuemfoz Eugene E Bryan? attorney Patented July 15, 1952 ROTARY DISCHARGE ELEMENT'FOR HOP- PERS, HAVING HELICAL POCKETS AND AN AXIALLY SLIDABLE SHIELD FOR AD- JUSTABLY OCCLUDING SAID POCKETS Eugene E. Bryant, Bedford, Ohio, assignor to the.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of War lApplication July 17, 1947, Serial No. 761,50i

This invention relates to an improved feeding mechanism whereby granular and powdered materials may be fed at variable rates. It also relates to mechanisms of the character described which are provided with a rotary pocket type feed valve having a slidable shield mounted thereon whereby a variable volumetric feed may be provided at a constant R. P. M. of the feed valve.

Numerous feeding mechanisms have heretofore been made for use with dry materials, but insofar as the applicant is advised, thesedevices [leave much to be-desired, from the viewpoint of their first cost, maintenance or dependability in' operation, v v v Insofar. as prior 'art mechanisms utilizing rotary pocket type feed valves are concerned, variations in the rate of feeding are usually provided by dividing the hopper into sections and closing off certain sections with, a vertical shield to reduce the rate at which the mechanism feeds. However, such-feeding devices have inherent defects in that the rate of feeding can only be increased or decreased by steps and the portion to be used cannot be reduced in width beyond a critical point, which is determined by the size of the particles and character of the substance being fed, and beyond which the material will not readily feed at a constant rate. One of the major purposes of this invention is, therefore, the provision of an improved feeding mechanism to provide a variable feed of solid particles at a constant R. P. M. of itsrotary valve.

Another purpose is to provide a feeding apparatus of economical construction which is efficient and dependable in operation, and which makes use of a rotary feed member whereby varying rates of feed may be obtained at an identical R. P. M. of the feed member.

Another purpose is the provision of a novel shielded rotary feed member whereby the rate of feed through a feed hopper apparatus may be infinitely varied, within the capacity of the mechanism without changing the R. P. M. of the rotary element. l

A yet further purposeeis the provision of a feeding mechanism with. a rotary feed member having a slidably mounted shield whereby the mechanism may furnish infinitely variable rates of feed at a constant R. P. M.

The other and further purposes of this invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawing, the following specification and the claims. appended hereto.

,In the drawing, V

Fig. iris a partly end elevational view of a 3 Claims. (01. 227F303) 2 preferred embodiment of this invention in which certain portions of .the device are broken away and other parts are shown in section, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1. v

Referring now to the drawing, I indicates a hopper supported by any suitable means, such as overhead beams 2. This hopper may be any suitable shape orconstruction, but in the form illustrated it is made of integral inwardly inclined side wall portions 3, 4, and of integral downwardly taperingendw'all portions 5, 6. At its base, these hopper wall portions may be formed substantially as shown to provide a feed outlet lhaving a tubular rotary valve or feeder 8. This feeder is securedto a rotatable shaft 9 and its function is to feed the material out of the hopper as it is rotated. Both the feeder and theshaft, for a purpose which will become apparent as the specification proceeds, conveniently may be made approximately twice as long as the outlet opening as may be readily understood by referring to Fig 1.

The wall portion}. is adapted to rotatably support one end of the shaft. The opposite wall portion 6 is provided with a circular "open portion It in which there is fixedly secured, by any suitable means such as welding, an elongated tubular projection ll having a larger diameter than the feederand adapted to receive a hereinafter mentioned tubular shield slidab-ly mounted on the feeder. This tubular projection houses such portions of the feeder, the shield and the shaft as extend outside the hopper. There is provided at the outernend of this projection a rigidly secured bearing l2 through which the shaft extends and beyond which it may be provided with any suitable drive means such as a driven pulley l3. I, v

The rotary feeder 8 is longitudinally recessed to provide a plurality of evenly spaced-apart wing portions 14. These portions may be made in any suitable form toprovide elongated recessed portions or pockets 15 which preferably extend the entire length of the feeder and provide a means whereby, whenthe feeder is rotated, predetermined volumes of powdered, granular or crushed materials may be fed through the outlet when the pockets are rotated from-their uppermost to their lowermost position on the feeder. In the embodiment shown, the wing portions and the-pockets are spirally formed around the inner portions of'the feeder to provide a continuous flow of materials from the hopper. I 7

For certain -purposes,- for instance 1 when the 3 fed materials are to be discharged into evenly spaced-apart buckets carried on a chain or belt moving below the outlet, these wings and pockets should extend in a straight line between the end portions ofthe feeder in. order to make certain that the material be discharged in the buckets.

A circular metal shield 16 having a smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the tubular projection II and a larger inside diameter than the outside diameter of the feeder is slidably mounted on the feeder in a manner which may be well understood by referring to the accompanying drawing;

This shield may advantageously be made slightly longer than one-half the length of the feeder. It is so formed and recessed as to have inwardly extending projections I! and outwardly extending pockets l8 which mesh respectively with the feeder pockets and wings in a manner adapted to fill such portions-of the feeder pockets which are encircled by the-shield. r

The function of "thisshield is to provide a means whereby any desired rate of feed within the capacity of the feeding mechanism may be obtained by longitudinally movingthe shield on the feeder in and outof the hopper outlet to such an extent as to provide the rate of feed desired. When the feeding mechanism is to be operated-at full capacity at any given-R. P. M. of the feeder, the shield is entirely retracted from the hopper outlet in orderthat all portions of-the feeder pockets extending within this outlet may'be filled with the material being fed to the hopper and discharge this material out of the hopper atthe lower end of the outlet. 7

When the feeding mechanism is to be operated at a reduced capacity at any given R, P. M., the shield is slidably moved into the interior of the outlet to an extent dependent upon the reduction 1 in the rate of feed desired and'its inwardly extending projections or ribs ll fill such portions of the feeder pockets as 'the shield encircles and thereby prevent any material frombeing fed out of these portions of the feeder pockets. It is therefore obvious that the capacity of this shielded feeder in the modification shown in the drawings is limited'in direct proportion to the extent which the shield is insertedin the outlet. If the shield be of sufficient length to cover and encircle all portions of the feeder and extend to the end wall portion it will prevent the passag ofany of the material into the hopper. As the shield is retracted from the feed outlet into the tubular projection H such portions of the pockets as are uncovered will feed the material out of the hopper to the extent that they are uncovered. When the shield is fully retracted from'the opening the hopper of ,course will again operate at its full feeding capacity.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the shield and'the tubular projection have been provided with meansfwhereby the" shield may be readily moved longitudinally on the feeder and locked in any position adapted to permit any chosen rate of feed within the limitations of the feed mechanism. These means include an an- .nular slot 20 provided at the outer endportion 4 jection and then locked in any desired position by merely tightening the nut.

From the foregoing description of the details of the construction of the illustrated embodiment of this invention, its manner of operation may be thoroughly understood.

When the hopper is adequately supplied with granular, powdered and crushed substances fed into the feeder pockets by gravity the material in these pocketsis moved downwardly by the rotation of the feed and discharged from the hopper at a rate dependent upon the angular rotation of the feed and upon the extent to which it is not covered and rendered inoperative by the shield.

While one embodiment of the invention is disclosed herein it, of course, will be understood that structural modifications may be made, such as forming a hollow shield of welded plate, without departure from the scope of the invention of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A feeding mechanism for feeding solid materials in the form of small particles, a hopper having a feed outlet in the lower portion thereof, a circular rotatably mounted feeder valve having spaced-apart radially extending helically winding projections forming pockets in said valve to feed the material through said outlet, and extending partly within and partly without said outlet, and a single circular shield slidably mounted on and entirely encircling said valve having inwardly extending helical portions substantially filling said pockets and being adapted to move in and out of said outlet, said hopper having a, stationary tubular extension fixedly secured to feed thehopper and forming a housing and a support for the portion of the valve extending without said outlet.

2. A feeding mechanism for feeding solid materials in the form of' small particles, a hopper havinga feed outlet in the lower portion thereof, a circular rotatably mounted feeder valve having spaced-apart radially extending and helically winding projections forming helical pockets in said valve to feed'the material through said outlet, and extending :partly within and partly without said outlet, and a single integrally formed shield slidably mounted on and completely encircling said valve having inwardly extending helical portions in meshed relationship with rod completely encircling and substantially filling said pockets and being adapted to move in and out of said outlet, said hopper having a stationary tubular extension fixedly secured thereto and forming a, housing and a concentric support for the portion of the valve extending without said outlet, said tubular extension being provided'with a longitudinally extending slot and said shield being provided near its outer end portion with an annular slot with a threaded nut and bolt means and being slidably mounted slot on said shield and extending through the slotted portion of the tubular extension in a manner whereby the shield may be moved in and out of saidjoutlet and tightly secured to said tubular extension. e

3. In a feeding mechanism of the character described, a hopper having a discharge outlet, a rotatably mounted feeder valve extending partly within and partly without said outlet and being provided with longitudinally extending recessed portions forfeeding dry particles through said outlet and a tubular shield, movable without and within said outlet, slidably mounted on said valve and having helically winding and in- 5 6 wardly extending portions in meshed relation- REFERENCES CITED shlp Wlth Sald pockets Sam hopper havmg The following references are of record in the tubular extension rigidly secured thereto and file of this vpament: forming a rigid stationary housing and a, support for the portion of the valve extending without 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS said outlet, said tubular extension being provided Number Name Date with a longitudinally extending slot and said Re. 9,339 Regan Aug. 10, 1880 shield being provided with a threaded handle 176,719 Westc0tt Apr. 25, 1876 means extending inwardly and perpendicularly 183,321 Nauman Oct. 17, 1876 into said shield and extending through the slotted 10 295,647 Julian Mar. 25, 1884 portion of the tubular extension in a manner 603,309 Jeagley May 3, 1898 whereby the shield may be moved in and out of 920,656 Ross May 4, 1909 said outlet and longitudinally secured with re- 1,863,133 Ziedens June 14, 1932 spect thereto. 2,045,709 Hartwell June 30, 1936 EUGENE E. BRYANT. 15 2,315,244 Campbell, Jr Mar. 30, 1943 

